New Blooms

Lovely day again today. Wifey bought some new blooms last week and they've been showing themselves off in the sunshine today. The colours are quite rich and well saturated - no need for me to enhance the images at all. I'm not sure how big these plants will grow, but presently they look quite lovely. More pictures here if you're interested.

We've managed to tidy up some overgrown area of the garden today, and now my back is suffering the after effects of lifting and digging. Time for a soak methinks.

Weather tomorrow isn't as promising, so gardening may have to wait until we get a dry spell.

Deathly quiet

Glorious day today weather wise, and made even better by going out on the mountain bikes. On our trip we cycled alongside a cemetry. The cemetry was interesting for several reasons; the peacefulness of the place; the decay and brokenness of many of the headstones and plots; the size of the place; the vast number of old and young laid to rest there. Sadly, judging by the state of the plots many of these people have been forgotten by their familes; their memorial only exists thanks to the local council who maintains the facility. It was quite sad. Clearly much care had gone into the selection of the memorial. Furthermore I could imagine a significant amount of money had been spent on many of the headstones and carvings. These people had meant a lot to somebody and been a vital part of many people's lives. Now they are forgotten and in many cases their names have been eroded from their memorials.

It makes you think doesn't it. For what will you be remembered? Who will remember you, and for how long. What will be your legacy?

I suppose it was as a result of reading "Our Hidden Lives" by Simon Garfield and how well I felt I'd got to know the authors of the diaries published in the book. These people would probably have tombstones somewhere in England. The tomebstone would give no indication as to the type of person buried there, yet the journals give a fascinating insight into the lives, anxieties, thoughts and hopes of the various individuals. Perhaps a diary isn't such a bad idea after all? Certainly something your descendants may find of greater value than a decaying tombstone.

Just a thought :-)

Sinking Feeling

Can't say I've felt the best today. Woke with a headache and have felt pretty rough most of the day. Decided to take a walk at Martaetai where we saw a few youngsters learning how to sail. I have a feeling that today's lesson was how to bail out your boat!

Finding it more than slightly entertaining trying to decide who would sink first we opted for some ice-cream and a seat from which to watch the action. Seagulls on the top of the shops were seriously cute ... and the sky? Glorious deep blue with little in the way of clouds. Wonderful day weather wise. Back to the action and thankfully nobody was injured, and nobody sank. Obviously the bailing lessons were worthwhile, understood by all and had been taken to heart :-)

After the ice-creams were finished we headed down the beach for a bit of a walk. Maraetai is really quite pretty and today, with such pleasant weather, it was quite lovely. After the beach walk we headed back home to spend some time in the garden.

The gazanias gave the impression of enjoying the warmth of the sun as miuch as we were. I'm always impressed by these little flowers; so full of colour. Check out my flickr pages for more images taken this afternoon of the various blooms just outside the rumpus room.

Mass Observaion Project

It was some time ago - 2004 I think - that Simon Garfield published his book, "Our Hidden Lives" that presents extracts from the journals of five ordinary people living in England between 1945 and 1948. I've only just discovered the book and it's a gem. I find myself wishing I could meet with the diarists and get to know them better. I'm fascinated also how insightful they can be and also how concerned they are with society at the time. The book is well worth a read.

Summer time is here in NZ, but not all parking meters think so! This means you can pay for 1 hour's parking to get an already expired ticket. The expired ticket permits the local tow company to remove your car. Must be oen of the easiest ways to earn a dollar I've come across yet! Set the ticket dispensing machine to the wrong time and lie in wait with a tow truck.

Visited local Buddhist Temple and weas impressed with the peaceful serenity I enjoyed there. I suspect I'll go back again when I'm feeling stressed or harassed ;-) I've put a few pictures on my flickr photostream. Have a squiz and let me know what you think:-)

As expected!

Well, it had to happen. Those lovely flowers on the michalea tree had to come down. The tree is very large, and is covered in flowers the size of a stretched hand. The picture to the left shows some of the petals on the ground. Last weekend the ground was clear, but some wind and rain has helped cover the lawn with wet, soggy, white petals. Frustrating thing is that there's more flowers still to come down than there is already on the ground!

The weather is definitelty changing. The cherry trees are in bloom on the driveway and we have the usual tui's visiting for the nectar. I managed a quick shot of one today, but the light was fading so it's not the best, but it should give you an idea of the bird and the colour of the cherry tree blossom. We have other cherry trees on the west of the house, but these are mi=uch lighter in colour and are no where near as advanced with their blooms.

Work has continued today with the bedroom renovations. The old gib is off the walls, one interior wall has been modified to remove an interior window and the insulation has been added. New gib will be added soon and then we'll be on with the painting!

I couldn't help but notice some workings on some of the internal framing. Measurements in feet and inches! Much more difficult to do the calculations, yet, in many ways, the workmanship and finished results seemed so much better. I also noticed some unpleasant things in the framing. There's obviously been some ants living in our home as well as us. It also looks like there was a lot of them!! No ants there now, and the gaps are filled with insulation which, with the doubke glazing has made a huge difference to the quietness of the room. Progress is defintiely being made. Roll on the next step ;-)

On Campus

Photographs of the campus are required for the new Institute prospectus, so Friday afternoon saw a few of us armed with cameras out and about on one of the campuses taking shots. I found the exercise quite difficult as my mind was on some dificulties we'd experienced the previous day with some networking equipment. Nevertheless, I continued to walk around the campus which, when you take time to look at it carefully is very pleasant indeed. I think this was the trick really. Walk around the campus to see what was there first of all without being trigger happy and snapping away at anything and everything and then hoping for the best. The light was lovely, a bit harsh in some areas, but it really set off the colours of the buildings a treat- well I thought so anyway! The idea was to accentuate or emphasise aspects of the architecture on campus. So where to start? Of what should we take pictures?

The first image in this post shows the oldest building on campus, and perhaps the most photogenic and pleasing to the eye. However, this building isn't used by the students. It acts as the office block for the Institute's executive team. For the prospectus it would be better to get some images of the building, or features of buildings with which the students were likely to come into contact. This I found very difficult.

Should I concentrate on shape, and if I did, should I be looking for detail, or overall impression? The windows to the left on a slight curve and decreasing in size looked like it had potential, but is it pleasing to the eye? Is it sufficiently engaging or interesting?

All up I suppose it was about an hour walking around the campus and taking shots. All it's done is given me a desire to walk around the campus again, but at different times of the day. Anyway, if you'd like to see some more images from the walk, then please have a squiz here. Comments are welcome :-)

Has spring sprung?

We're still lighting the fire as it's quite cool in the evenings. It's certainly milder than it has been, and now we're noticing some of the spring blooms appearing in the garden. Daffodils are out and look quite lovely in the morning light. The something rather nice about early morning and early evening light. It reminds me of Kodachrome images - slightly underexposed and right in colour.

The michalea tree continues to look spectacular, but is losing leaves and petals. With recent rain we now have a soggy composting mess on the grass. Such a contrast between the beauty of the flowers in the tree and the rotting compost on the lawn!